12 lessons from 2012

I gave this talk at Refresh Belfast about 12 lessons I'd learnt in 2012.

Transcript

1. Our Jobs Are Great Our Jobs Are Great - We get to do something we love and have fun doing it. Rumble and a few other places in Belfast are lucky enough to have extra cool stuff: Beer fridges, AR drones and remote control helicopters and brewing beer. More places should do this.
2. Retrospect Retrospect - being able to look back and see how far I've come and how much I've learnt in the past year is great. Looking back has taught me how far I can go in a year.
3. Self Direction Self direction - if you want to get better at something, learn it. Decide what you want to do and do it. Learn something new with each project. Expand your skills. Become the person you want to be.
4. Motivation Motivation - hardest thing in world, most of the time you need a kick up the arse or a catalyst to motivate you to do something. Without someone else giving you a deadline, it's sometimes hard to push yourself.
5. Explanation Explanation - everything can complicated if you don’t know it. If you’re explaining something you just need a frame of reference in order to understand it. When you're explaining something complicated to someone, explain it ways they will understand.
6. Be Human Be Human - being easy to talk to and being approachable is often overlooked in our industry. It's hard enough to talk to people you look up to without them not being appreciative of the conversation.
7. Empathy Empathy - being able to empathise with someone is one of the greatest skills a person can have. For every decision someone takes or thing a person says, try to understand their circumstances and see where they are coming from and why they are doing it.
8. Speaking Speaking - I know for myself, even just putting the problem in words rather than keeping it in my thoughts helps to find a solution. Even better, explaining it to someone else will often help show the issue with what you are trying to achieve.
9. Stupid Ideas Stupid Ideas - I have a markdown file on Dropbox called Infinite Ideas. I write everything down there, no matter how stupid or complex. Most of them will never see the light of day, but everyone should do this. Writing down everything helps to filter out the really shit ones.
10. Friends Environment - we have a great community in Belfast but having friends who do this is even better. Honest feedback and collaborators are both far easier to come by if you have mates doing this.
11. Take Time Out Take Time Out - Get away from computers and coding a few times a year. I do it at Music Festivals. It can give a fresh perspective on your work and what you’re doing in life along with stopping burning out.
12. The Journey Is The Reward - Even if the project sucks and the client is a melter, take something positive away from each project, even if it’s something that can be done better next time. You get to do what you love for a living, enjoy it.